Quote:
Originally Posted by amptramp
If I'm not mistaken, chrome plating on plastic usually starts with electroless nickle plating followed by chrome plating. Electroless nickle is a process that does not depend on external electricity and can be used on any surface - you could plate an apple if you wanted to. Then the nickle surface is used as an electrode for electroplating of chromium.
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That might be possible. Electroless nickel has improved over the years. Orginally the surface of plastic had to be activated by dipping it in a dilute acidified stannous chloride solution. Then it would be dipped in an electroless copper solution. Once that thin layer formed a thicker bright eletrolytic copper plating was done. Then depending on how bright it was they would either go directly to chrome plating it or polishing the copper first.
John